When the Pulaski County Maroons made their first trip to Coal Miners Memorial Stadium in 2012, the Harlan County Black Bears’ football program matched its peak by winning a second 5A regional football title with a 46-12 victory.
When the Maroons made a return trip on Friday, the story was much different. Pulaski dominated on both sides of the ball, sending the Bears to their seventh loss in eight games with a 53-6 rout.
Sophomore quarterback Zak Anderson passed for three touchdowns and freshman running back Kasen Brock ran for three as the Maroons scored on seven of eight possessions through three quarters in starting a running clock and improving to 3-5 overall and 2-1 in district action.
The momentum of the game went the way of the Bears early as they converted an early fourth down on a rush by Thomas Jordan. A bad snap stopped that momentum. Harris Denmyer almost immediately made a big play, as he hauled in a 46 yard catch from Anderson to get into the red zone. Pulaski soon scored the first touchdown of the game, as Kaden Richardson took it in from just 2 yards out.
Anderson then found Bryan Ford streaking towards the end zone with 1:41 left in the first period for a 19-yard touchdown, further increasing the Maroons’ lead to 13-0 as Bryson Mounce hit the first of six extra points.
Brycedon Brown laid a hammer of a hit on Jordan soon after the start of the second period for a loss of a few yards. Brock had a rush of about 16 yards as the Maroons began their first drive of the period. Pulaski faced fourth-and-23 and scored a 23-yard touchdown as Kyle Wethington hauled in another pass from Anderson.
A shanked punt led to another drive with great starting field position for the Maroons. Anderson had his first rush of the game, with it going for a gain of 15 yards. Dekker Wheeldon then tracked down his first touchdown grab of the game, a third passing touchdown for Anderson, from 13 yards out as Pulaski went up 27-0 with less than three minutes left in the half.
Harlan County freshman defensive end Shemar Carr appeared to force a turnover on a third down play late in the half, but officials ruled the ball should stay with the Maroons. Anderson’s pass on fourth down fell incomplete.
Brock went over 1,000 rushing yards for the season to begin the first Pulaski drive of the second half. The Maroons continued their offensive momentum as Brock grabbed a touchdown from 5 yards out and following a missed PAT, Pulaski was on top 33-0 and were just one score away from starting the running clock in the contest.
The Maroons added another quick score after a quick three-and-out as Brock rushed the ball straight into the end zone from 57 yards out for a 40-0 lead, with the clock showing 8:18 left in the quarter with the running clock now active.
Brock added yet another touchdown rush up the middle in the third quarter, as he ran for his third-straight touchdown (this one from 47 yards out) to make the score 47-0 heading into the final quarter.
Another quick score with 10:45 left in the fourth quarter, as Gunner Loveless recovered a fumble and took the ball back 22 yards for a Pulaski touchdown.
Harlan County broke onto the scoreboard on its next drive as Bryan Howard took the ball in from 63 yards out to make the score 53-6. A successful two-point conversion on a pass from Ethan Rhymer to Kayden Adams was canceled out by a penalty.
Pulaski totaled 433 yards of offense to the Black Bears’ 127. No turnovers for the Maroons this week either as they cleaned up their play from the past two weeks. Harlan had just 22 passing yards compared to Pulaski’s 173. Brock had a massive game with 243 yards on the ground and three touchdowns. Denmyer was the leading receiver with 64 yards.
The Maroons improve to 3-6 and will be back at home next week for their season finale as they will host crosstown foe Southwestern in the Don Franklin Bowl. Harlan County will play host to North Laurel on Friday and then travel to Bell County on Oct. 27 to close the regular season.